Today the London based company, Shazam, announced the launch of its new Shazam Encore [$4.99 - iTunes Link] app on the App Store. The original Shazam is a free app that currently has over 10 million downloads so why not try to cash in with a new app that costs $4.99. Here is what you get for your money.
- Improved speed performance: making it even quicker for users to tag tracks and learn more about their music.
- Music recommendations: users can discover other music similar to the track that’s been tagged to enhance their music collection and knowledge.
- Find what’s hot and popular: Shazam music charts generated by millions of other Shazamers can be accessed to help users keep up to date with the new tracks and players in the music scene.
- Search music: easily find music by artist, album or track from over 8 million songs.
- Drive and Tag: Shazam automatically enters into car mode when the iPhone is placed in an in-car dock to make it simple to discover what’s playing on the radio even when driving.
Okay, so they’ve added some nice new features, but are those features worth $4.99? Let us know what you think.
(Settlers of Catan Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)
Settlers of Catan [$4.99 - iTunes link] for the iPhone. The long awaited game has made it’s debut…so how does it stack up?
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The Register is reporting that a lawsuit has been filed against an iPhone game developer for privacy violations:
The complaint claims best-selling games made by Storm8 contained secret code that bypassed safeguards built into the iPhone to prevent the unauthorized snooping of user information. [...] to access, collect, and transmit the wireless phone numbers of the iPhones on which its games are installed,” states the complaint, which was filed in US District Court in Northern California. “Storm8 does so or has done so in all of its games.” [...] [including] World War, iMobsters, Racing Live, Vampires Live, Kingdoms Live, Zombies Live, and Rockstars Live.
The complaint claims they’re violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and is seeking Class Action status. It’s not the first time we’ve heard about apps violating user privacy, hopefully Apple’s new iPhone security manager will first and foremost focus on these types of exploits. And, yeah, let the courts smite any abusive developers in the meantime…
[via Wabbit in the TiPb forums]
For iPhone Jailbreakers using SSH to access their devices — without changing the default password — getting Rickrolled by a worm may be annoying (no worse than getting held for ransom by a hacker) but it’s a sign that far more insidious and malicious attacks are possible — so change those passwords now!
Back to the Rickroll. TUAW reports:
A hacker, going by the name “ikee,” created a worm that changes the home screen background on jailbroken iPhones whose owners failed to change the default password after installing SSH.
And the new background is, of course, Rick Astley. While removal details are included in an interview with the hacker, it’s better to be safe than sorry. So, check our iMuggle’s tutorial on how to change your SSH password, and change it right away.
We have some good news for all of you Nintendo fans out there as ZodTDD, the developer the Nintendo Gameboy Advance emulator GpSPhone, has announced that they are currently working on an N64 emulator for the iPhone 3GS and iPod touch. Zodttd feels that the iPhone 3GS and the current iPod Touch contain the graphical horsepower needed for N64 games.
“You may soon see N64 on your favorite Apple device, But I can’t promise it will run games top notch just yet, as things are too early to say. There’s hope though, with a 3D accelerated graphics plugin, as well as an ARM dynarec.”
We would love to see this pulled off but the lack of physical buttons on the iPhone may prove to be a major issue. There currently is no release date set but regardless, we are looking forward to checking this one out.
[Via Gizmodo]
Posted on Saturday, Nov 7, 2009 by Leanna Lofte
File Under:App Store Apps, Apps, Featured; Tags: apps, colorsplash, DSLR Camera Remote, panorama, photo, photogene, tiltshift generator, top 5
Today’s TiPb Top 5 will be directed towards our iPhone and iPod Touch wielding readers who love photography. Just like our other TiPb’s top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full overview, follow us after the break!
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Speaking of tiny, incremental improvements, Erica Sadun over at TUAW highlight a new addition some developers are seeing when entering iTunes Connect — a submission history:
Appearing near recently reviewed items, this option opens a detail table showing how your application has worked its way through the App Store review process, and on to the shelf. Stormont details this update on his site.
Sadun also states that the amber status bubbles are slightly more verbose now, adding “waiting for review” for the freshest uploads.
If you’re a developer and you’re seeing these, or any other changes in iTunes Connect, let us know, and let us know what you think about them, and what else you’d like to see.
Umpteenth verse, same as the first — Macworld turned their iPhone ebook into and app and submitted it to the iTunes App Store. It was rejected. Several times. Finally editor Jason Snell expressed his frustration on Twitter and several high profile blogs picked it up. Apple called him immediately to try and make it right.
Good for Macworld. Bad for all the developers who lack the same megaphone by virtue of their job and connections.
Granted, with 100,000+ apps, the non-sensical and erroneous rejections remain a tiny percentage, but even a tiny percentage of 100,000+ represents many developers’ time, effort, and money. It’s frustrating for them and embarrassing for Apple.
Tim Cook and Phil Schiller claim they’re making improvements, and no doubt they are. From a pure perception point of view, however, this is one issue that needs fixing sooner rather than later.
Squarespace [Free - iTunes link] is a brand new app that lets you administer your Squarespace web site — at least the blogging aspects — right from your iPhone and iPod touch.
The innovative hosted content-management system has become the darling of the technorati due to its robust online management tools and ability to scale to handle huge spikes in traffic (i.e. Digg effect). The app features:
- Posting and editing content
- Posting pics
- Multiple site support
- Site stats and graphs
- New site registration
Next on the list will be comment management, slated for version 1.1.
Note: While the app is free, Squarespace itself is a paid monthly service. But if you’re a user, and you try out the app, let us know how it works for you!
Id Software has released the Godfather of all first person shooters, Doom Classic. [$6.99 - iTunes Link] The game has been ported nicely while including a completely new episode not found in the original along with a few other extras sprinkled in for your gaming pleasure.
- Play the legendary first person shooter, DOOM, with an iPhone or iPod Touch. Fight through 36 missions in four action-packed episodes: Knee-Deep in the Dead, Shores of Hell, Inferno, and Thy Flesh Consumed.
- Experience DOOM multiplayer on your mobile device, including Deathmatch and Cooperative play for up to four players via wireless internet.
- Choose from three different control types and customize the interface to suit your style.
- Explore the depths of Mars while utilizing the topdown map to help you explore and save your game on the fly.
- Listen to the original soundtrack or disable it and use your own iPod music.
After spending some time with Doom Classic it’s safe to say that FPS fans should enjoy this classic action.
